Looking at their Patreon numbers, I don't think making a second team is even close to an option. Hell, it's barely enough for a one-man show working full time on the project. I agree that Lily is one of the better games with great renders, but P&P really missed their chance to expand after they first exploded. I think way back in the day they hit somewhere around $6000-$8000 per month on patreon, but the release schedule became abysmal and most of the backers jumped ship after 6 months of nothing being delivered and communication practically ceasing altogether. I doubt they'll ever get those numbers or momentum again, they, unfortunately, tarnished their name, but hey, maybe the new project is a sleeper hit, those numbers go back up and they don't drop the ball this time. I'll never fault a developer for branching out onto new projects so long as they intend on completing projects. I'm kind of 50/50 on whether Lily will ever see an end or just fade away, but I'll certainly take what I can get. If anything the humorous writing and the great renders always bring me back.
its a bit of a case of: damned if you do damned if you don't.
like all start ups you need to invest up front so you gain size and can deliver what people want and the money will grow with it.
if you don't the invest up front then you never get the size so you can deliver what people want.
P and P peaked at $3300 but fell back for the reasons you wrote.
the problem for P and P today, is that they are an old start up who did not invest to grow big enough, so now what do they do...?
The only way out, that I see, is to invest in them selves (ask Patrons to chip in) and build a dev shop. They absolutely have top notch talent and the right grade A skills, and the experience to pull it off - what's missing is a scaled up dev team that can ramp up the release schedule. For instance NLT do 2 releases a month and P and P do 1 release every 6 month. NLT makes approx. $100,000/month and P and P makes $1200-$1300/month.
I know it's not fair comparison but there are similarities, e.g. look how small NLT they were when they started similar to P and P (they did have a comic business that seeded them but their first game was very simple - inferior to LotV), they use same RPG engine, rendering, etc. but made an investment in 2019 that payed off and today NLT can afford animators and writers, big team to crank out bi weekly releases with pro grade animations etc.
the point is that P and P can still invest in them selves and build a dev shop, copying NLT start up model.
